Tyrese Haliburton has been a major problem for the OKC Thunder all throughout this year's NBA Finals showdown, as he's been posting stellar, all-around averages of 15.0 points, 7.2 assists, 6.2 rebounds, and 1.2 steals in five games played.
However, there's a real possibility that the point guard may have already seen his final lick of action on the year, or, at the very least, will be severely limited for the remainder of the series, as a recent update from ESPN's Shams Charania indicates trouble may be afoot for Indiana's cornerstone star.
Tyrese Haliburton's status against Thunder in Game 6 in question
Tuesday, the NBA Insider revealed via his personal X account that Haliburton suffered a strained right calf during Game 5 and is slated to undergo an MRI to determine the severity of the strain.
It's important to note that, roughly a week ago, the 25-year-old had revealed that he was feeling ankle soreness in this same leg and that, as mentioned by Charania during an appearance on NBA Today, "it was described to me today that if this were the regular season or even the first round, there's doubt that he would play."
While All-Star Jalen Williams was out scoring 40 points and guiding the Thunder to within one win of taking home their first Larry O'Brien Trophy of the Sooner State era on Monday night, Haliburton was visibly hobbled and was rendered virtually ineffective by his leg ailment.
In 34 minutes of action, the two-time All-Star was held to just 4 total points on 0-of-6 shooting from the field, tying for the fewest points and marking the first time in which he shot so poorly in his entire playoff career.
Haliburton sustained the injury during the first half of action and was sent back to the locker room for evaluation. Ultimately, he returned to the contest, though, even with this clearance to do so, it was evident from both the statistics and the eye test that he was not close to 100 percent.
Now, jumping to conclusions before he even undergoes an MRI is, of course, a tad premature. As of right now, Haliburton himself says that he expects to suit up for Thursday's win-or-go-home contest.
However, as Charania acknowledged, injuries such as his can realistically lead to games being missed, sometimes even forcing the individual to sit out for several weeks at a time.
Indiana certainly can't afford to see Haliburton miss any time with their season officially on the line.
This would be an absolute nightmare scenario for the Pacers if their offensive engine isn't able to suit up for Game 6, especially when considering the ball club registers in with a putrid 104.2 offensive rating and -8.4 net rating with him off the floor this postseason and have seen a point differential of -9.9 in such scenarios.